1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of butchering, and more particularly to an apparatus for skinning chicken breasts and backs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous automatic skinning machines. The disclosures in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,811,459, No. 3,542,105, No. 4,368,613, No. 2,620,510, No. 4,466,344, No. 4,338,704, No. 4,292,710 and No. 4,730,368, for example, are generally pertinent to the present invention. As with the present invention, the devices shown in the above patents operate on the principle of grabbing an edge or corner of the skin, and then pulling or peeling it away from the underlying meat, in a continuous motion. The grasping and pulling is typically performed by one or two cylindrical rolls having sharp teeth designed to bite into and snag an exposed portion of the skin and then pull it around the roll, while the meat itself is prevented from following that path. It is known to provide cleaning or stripping rolls, in addition, to clear the peeling roll(s) of accumulated materials. Skinners are dangerous devices, so it is important to enable such machines to operate with minimal human intervention.
Two problems continue to occur. One is the fouling of the peeling roll teeth, and the stripper roll teeth, with pieces of skin or fat, over a period of time. This not only requires maintenance time to correct, but also affects the quality of the removed skin, whose value for subsequent processes is reduced by the present of water or emulsified materials.
The other problem is the inability of present machines to peel both sides (front and back) of a given piece of meat, such as a the upper half of a chicken. ("Upper half" is a term of art denoting a portion of a chicken which has been plucked and eviscerated, from which the head, neck, legs and thighs have been removed. The upper half thus comprises the ribcage, with breasts, back and wings attached.)